Method and means for removing foreign material from tobacco-scrap.



H. G. BROCKWELL & L. W. HENDERSON.-

METHOD AND MEANS FOR REMOVING FOREIGN MATERIAL FROM TOBACCO SCRAP.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I7, 1914-- Patented Dec.2l, 1915.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH Cu.I WASHINGTON, n. c.

I-IO'WARD e. vBRokniwnnn Ann Lewis v iiEnnnnsonor nronivroivn, VIRGINIA,

ASSIGNOB-S TO rrrn nn'rncn'r. ronacoe rnonnc'rg COMPANY, A cannon-Arronor NEW'JnssnY.

' METHOD ,Annuun'an's non nnrvrovinog non-Eleni MATERIAL snore 'roeAooo-soR-hr, f

To all whom it may concern:

7 heretofore has been picked from the tobacco Be it known that we,HOWARfiGQBROCK- WELL andLnwis W; HENDERSON, citizens of the UnitedStates, residing at Richmond, county of Henr1co,'andState of V1rg1n1a,

have invented certain new, and useful l-mprovenients in Methods andMeans for lte-r moving Foreign Material from Tobacco.- Scrap, fullydescribed and represented'in the following specification and theaccompanying drawings, forming apart ofthe same.

,ihls invention relates to an lmprovedmethod and apparatus for removingfrom tobacco scrap the foreign material, such. as stem shreds, fiber,feathers, paper, etc., which scra'pby hand. We have discovered that suchforeign material may be largely removed from tobacco scrap by surfacecontact of a roll, or preferably a plurality of -rolls,:

provided with a surface of material acting to pick up the foreignmaterial from the tobacco scrap, and that'a surface of the foreignmaterial itself is excellently adapted for this purpose, so that therolls may be used until they have accumulated a layer of such thick.ness as desired, this loose layer of foreign material then stripped off,and the roll used again. The tobacco scrap is preferably fed past therolls instead of running the rolls over the tobacco, and this may wellbe done by carrying the tobacco scrap in a uniform layer on a feedingbelt or other table mov-' ing below the rolls, and preferably suitablestirrers, such as suspended chains, or the like, with their free endslying on the belt, will be used between each pair of rolls,.so

as to stir up the tobacco scrap and bring a fresh surface to the topafter the tobacco layer has been partially cleaned by the precedingroll.

For a full understanding of the invention, a detailed description of aconstruction embodying the same will now be given in con.

nection with the accompanying drawings, and-the features forming. theinvention then specifically pointed. out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is .a sectional side elevation of a simpleformofapparatus embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame. Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section on the 1ine-3"3, Fig. 1,showing a roll in operation; and Fig. 4 is a section of Specification ofLetters Patent.

belt.

lteferrin g to the drawings, a is a moving Patented Dec. 21, 1915.Application filed Fehrnary l'i, i914, Serielllo. 8l9,l38. i

table for feeding the tobacco scrap forward,

shownas a; belt mounted on rollers 10, and driven by any suitablen1eans,the tobacco scrap. being fed onto therear end of this belt froma. chute or byhand, in any'suitable manner, as common. with. pickingbelts;

Above the belt a aremounted a seriesof rolls 0, three being shown in thepresent case,

although less or more may be used if desired,

theseirolls 7) beingmounted inany suitable mannerso-as to be free "tomove away from the belt as the layer offoreign material thereonincreasesin thickness. In the construction shown, these. rolls aresimply slipped into vertically slotted supports 11, in which the rollsarefree to move vertically.-

Between each pair of rolls Z) are mounted stirrers 0, which in the formshown consist of metal chains arranged in series across the belt andsuspended from a bar 12 carried by supports 13 on opposite sides of thebelt, so that the ends of the chains 0 rest upon the belt, and dragthrough the tobacco scrap as thelatteris carried forward by the belt,thus stirring up the tobacco and bringing a fresh.

surface to the top for action of the next roll thereon.

The rolls 1) may be made in any desired manner and provided with anysurface suitable to pick up foreign material from the scrap tobacco.With any such surface, the operation of the roll at once forms alayer'of foreign material upon the roll, and this foreign material isvery efficient for the purpose desired. The roll,.tberefore, preferablyis formed with such a surface, and in'practicewe have used a lightwooden roll about an inch in diameter, and prepared this by coating itwith glue andcovering it with a thin layer of the shreds and fiber whichare.

to be picked up from'the tobacco scrap, this layer being stuck on by theglue. The drawings showa roll thus formed, 1 being the center woodenroll and 2 being the layer of shreds,fiber, etc., glued on the roll.

The operation of the construction will be understood from a briefdescription. The tobacco scrap :0, fed onto the rear end of belt a in auniform layer, is carried forward by the belt beneath the successiverolls 6 wh'ich rotate freely in their bearings and,

'asthey are rotated by the movingtobacco on the belt, picl; up from thetop of the tobacco material such as above described, the rolls 'beingdight and free to move up- H warrhso as to increase the distancebetween f the fore 1 them and the belt, as the layers of foreign 7material on the rolls increase in thickness.

' fr-rfter the tobacco passes thefirst-roll b, lt' 'lS stirred by thechainsc so as to bring'a 7 new surfaceto thejtop for the-acti 0 4 secondroll Z) and so oniivith thes-uccessi've rolls-sand chains,=;:thecleanedtobacco being lnally delivered fromthe' end ofthe beltfa-g lngpracticmlitis found that the rolls may-f be rs-11.11 m a diameter jot.12 inchesgcr more,

' when flier-011 is removed fromflthetable and I the: for ign materialstripped off down-to fth 'ei'original' material held onby the glue, andtheroll 1s thenra'gam ready for use and isgreturned to its bearings overthe :beltIn Figs. 3. and 4, one ioftherolls is shown 'operating aon'thet'obacco upon the belt 5,1 with a layer of foreign material z of-considerable thicknesspiclzediipby the roll;

,It is found in practicef'that the'foreign material collected by therolls Z) and: thus removedafter they "have attained a convenient size,contains practically nov tobaccQ,;-and

that the tobacco delivered 'by'the belt is largely cleaned from foreignimaterial such as descr bed. r I 7 It Will be understood that the1nvent1on-1s' not to. be limited to the specific construction orarrangement of parts illustrated, but that Widely" differentconstructions may be used Within thei-nvention asdefined bytheclajii'ns. that is claimed is v1. The method of removing the foreignmaterial, such asshreds, fiber, etc, from to- V bacco scrap, whichconsists in rotating over the surface of a layer of scrap one or morerolls having a surface adapted to pick up such foreign material from thetobacco scrap and maintaining the proper distance between the scrap androll surfaces by relative move ment of the roll and 'scrap'away'fromeach I-ba'cco scrap in a uniform layer past and in contact vith one ormore rotating rolls 1m mg a surface adapted to p1clcu'p such forelgnmaterial from the tobacco scrap and maintaining the proper distancebetween the.

scrap and roll surfaces by relative movement of the roll and scrap awayfrom each other as the layer of foreign material on the roll increasesin" thickness.

3'. The method of removing the foreign material, such as shreds, fiber,etc;, from t'0- bacco scrap.

'IOll ZIIClSlOII. V r r 6.- In an apparatus for removing the forbaccoscrap,\vhich consists in moving the tobacco scrap in a uniform layerpast and in contact with a plurality of rollshavmg a surface adapted to'pick up such "foreign port for :a layerofitobacco scrap, of one-ormoret r'olls' having aa'surface adaptedto pick up such; fore] gnvmaterial, means? for manr taming the properfldistance between V the,scrap. androll surfaces :by relative move- ,ment of the roll and scrapawvay' from each other-as the layer of foreign material on'therollincreases inthickness,-and means for rotating the rolls overthesurfacepfjthe to- 5. In an apparatus for removing theforeignmaterial, such as shreds, fiber, etc.,=from tobacco'scrap, thecombination With a sup port for a layer of tobacco scrap, of awplinrality offr'olls having a surface adapted to pick up such foreignmaterial, means for ro-' tatm'g the rolls over the surface of. thetobacco scrap, and means for stirringthe to bacco scrap between the"successive rolls to;

bring a fresh surface into position for the .material from the tobaccoscrap, and stirring the tobacco scrap between the successlve eignmaterial, suchas shreds, fiber, etc, from F tobacco scrap, thecombinationwith a travel- I ingita'b'le orbelt, ofone or. more rollsmount ed to rotate in contact with tobacco scrap carried by the table,said rollsYhav-ing surfaces-adapted to pick up suchv foreign mate rialand bein'g free to'move' away from the table as'the' layer of foreignmaterial in-rcreases in thi'ckness.' V

7 In anapp'aratus for removing the for? eign='material, such as shreds,fiber, etc, from tobacco scrap, the combination with a traveling tableor belt, of a' pl'uralityof rolls? mounted to rotate in'contact withtobacco scrap carried bythe table, said rollshaving;

surfaces adapted to pick up such foreign material and being I free tomove aw ay from thetab'le as the layer of foreign material in creases-inthickness, and stirrers between the rolls for bringing a fresh sui faceinto position for the roll action.-

In testimony whereof, We lrave' heieuhto set our hands, in thepresencexof tWO' subscribing Witnesses. v V HOWARD G..=BRO;CKWELL.

LEWIS W. Witnesses: R0131. B. ARNOLD, G. C. SMI'THQ nnnnanson Copies ofthis patent may be obtained for' five cents each, by addressing theCommissioner of Patents-, i

v Washington,- D.- 63."

